Content Catchup: Content Marketing Predictions, a Hot New ROI Formula, and More Must-Reads

Here’s what you missed while learning about emojis from Blake Griffin…

21 Content Marketing Predictions for the 2nd Half of 2015

This week, I rounded up content marketing predictions for the next 6 months from the wisest minds in Contently’s office. (Well, almost—the dogs declined to participate.) Check out all 21 and tell us whether we’re clairvoyant, arrogant, or just really really good looking. Read it.

Why Is Every VC Suddenly Obsessed With Content Marketing?

In the VC world, content is the new Uber, writes Jay Acunzo:

Venture capitalists.

When you hear the term in the startup world, it’s met with a ton of very immediate, very opinionated reactions. These range from the good (“I wouldn’t be where I am today without my investors”) to, let’s just say, the less than good.

But in 2015, another phrase inevitably comes up when you talk startups: content. From big names to brand new firms, former CEOs to career investors, everyone in venture capital seems hot to publish.

Read it.

My Heart and Data Agree: GQ’s Emails Are the Best Emails Ever

In his latest wacky/nerdy experiment, Contently co-founder Shane Snow dissects his email inbox—and finds something surprising.

Out of nerdy impulse (or procrastination), I decided to do a little analysis one morning last week on what emails had actually managed to get some action from me. The results were pretty interesting—at least for content geeks like me:

Of the 96 emails I did open, 40 contained links—mostly newsletters or sales/marketing emails, plus a few emails from colleagues.
Between those 40 clickable emails, I clicked on 9 links (not including attachments from colleagues).

That makes my overall email open rate 13.7 percent, which is a little lower than email marketers typically see. My overall click-through rate of 3.1 percent would be pretty standard if these were all just marketing emails.

If we count only emails that I opened, my link click rate is 22.5 percent, which is respectably high. This would indicate that I’m being sent great emails (or am a particularly easy target) if not for one detail: Five of those clicks came from a single email from a single sender.

Read it.

ROCI: An Exciting New ROI Formula for Content Marketers

At Contently, our content and marketing teams are always tinkering in our metaphorical lab to figure out the best way to measure and attribute content marketing success (mostly so that we get to keep our cushy New York startup jobs). Recently, our VP of Marketing Ray Cheng had a breakthrough—one that you won’t want to miss. Read it.

Contently Comic: Facebook Instant Articles

And finally, we come to our latest Contently comic. Click-through for Dillon Baker’s excellent accompanying hot take.

Thanks for reading. Get some sun, and we’ll see you Monday.